New England Filled Surf and Turf Burger with Tomato Aioli

Pairs well with:

Cabernet Sauvignon

This rich red easily complements your homemade chicken dishes, red meats, game, and mildly seasoned pastas.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
2 tablespoons McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 teaspoons spicy seasoned garlic salt
1/2 pound cooked lobster meat (preferably fresh but frozen or canned with do, thawed)
1 cup Brie (room temperature with rind removed)
3/4 cup chopped scallions
1 teaspoon Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic Seasoning
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 large slice French bread, crust removed
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup prepared sun-dried tomato pesto (preferably Pastene)
vegetable oil, for brushing on the grill rack
6 bun-sized Ciabatta bread sections, sliced horizontally
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups chopped arugula
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped

 

Instructions

Prepare a medium hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or preheat a gas grill to medium high.

To make the patties, combine ground sirloin and ground chuck with Montreal Steak Seasoning and garlic salt to form 12 thin patties. Cover and refrigerate.

To prepare the filling, slice lobster meat into 1/2 inch chunks and gently blend with Brie, scallions and seafood seasoning. Cover and refrigerate.

To make the aioli, pulse the garlic cloves and salt in a food processor until finely minced. Tear French bread into bite-sized pieces and add to garlic mixture and pulsate about 1 minute, scraping down sides when needed. Add egg yolks and continue processing until well blended. While continuing to pulsate, add olive oil in a slow stream through the processor tube. Continue processing until mixture thickens and resembles a mayonnaise consistency. Add sun-dried tomato pesto and pulsate until just blended. Refrigerate.

Remove patties and lobster mixture from refrigeration. Place 1/6 of lobster mixture in the middle of each of 6 patties. Top with additional patty and pinch and seal edges with fingertips. When the grill is ready, brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Grill patties on main grilltop for 5 minutes each side for medium, making sure not to apply pressure to burgers with spatula.

Brush Ciabatta bread with softened butter on the cut side. During the last few minutes of cooking burgers, carefully place the rolls, cut side down, on the outer edges of the grill rack and toast on both sides until slightly brown.

To assemble the burgers, spread a generous amount of aioli over the cut sides of the rolls. On each roll bottom, top with burger and garnish with sprinkling of arugula and chopped tomato. Add the roll tops, serve and enjoy.